10 Tips For A Successful Blockchain Technology Implementation

The blockchain skills you need to develop

The lack of blockchain skills is a major concern and a significant inhibitor to blockchain adoption in companies across a variety of industries. According to Bloomberg, blockchain-related job postings on LinkedIn quadrupled in 2017. If you’re new to blockchain and wondering what it takes to develop the skills and habits needed to be a successful blockchain talent, this guide is for you.

Based on over 2 decades of experience, let me share the top 10 skills and habits that you need develop

Understanding The Blockchain Technology

It’s much easier to implement something when you know what that something is. Be sure to educate your team on blockchain technology and have them actually get their hands on working demos. At Envision Blockchain, we understand the importance of this type of education and that is why we offer our Blockchain immersion labs. Immersive Labs are simple half-day add-on workshops that take participants through Blockchain 101 and also interact with working smart contracts. Some of our suggestions on how to understand the technology include understanding the difference between public and private Blockchain, understanding data immutability, understanding how smart contracts work, and being able to discuss different consensus algorithms.

Understand the Readiness

Blockchain technology is undoubtedly exciting; after all, it is still new and many people are still fascinated by its potential. However, you’d better not rush into implementing this technology without first making sure that everyone who works in your business is open to the idea of ​​using it. Otherwise, it’s bound to fail from the start. Because this is the last thing you would want as a business owner, you need to assess your company’s readiness for blockchain proof of concept.

To make sure your business is ready for successful blockchain implementation, here are the things you need to have:

• product owners
• An organized project team
• Blockchain specialists (external or internal)
• Subject matter specialists for your various legacy systems
• Systems integration subject matter experts (internal or external)

With each of these key points in place, your business has everything it needs to move together cross-functionally.

Narrow Key Performance Indicators

You want to know if blockchain technology is bringing positive results to your business. To do this, you need to narrow down key performance indicators (KPIs), and this will help you test a set of particular deliverables. This is done by aligning your key performance indicators with the specific business problem you are experiencing.

When designing KPIs, be sure to report to stakeholders through the proper channels, and it should be done in a way that tells a story. It is also better to have the KPIs applicable to each stakeholder.

Project Management Essentials

Like any project, the implementation of blockchain technology must have proper product/project management throughout the life cycle of the project. There is no difference between implementing this technology versus some other technology that you have already implemented in your organization. Some of our suggestions include engaging your PMO, establishing project risks, getting a detailed set of project requirements, including project-specific assumptions, using the correct project methodologies such as Waterfall or Agile, using the correct resources, and being Responsible for specific deliverables. .

Consider Technical Implications

We know that in the previous point we mentioned don’t go too deep into the weeds with the technology when doing Business Considerations. We do not mean to ignore technology completely. After all, this is a technology-driven proof of concept, isn’t it? It is important to consider the technical implications. Here are some technical factors to consider: determine the right blockchain, distributed ledger requirements, are you going to use open source versus proprietary code, what is the right consensus algorithm, and how flexible will you be with technology requirements.

Consider Business Implications

It is very easy to get wrapped up in the technical aspects of Blockchain. We often get caught up in the weeds of technology without keeping the business perspective. That’s why we recommend considering the business implications as part of your proof of concept. Some points to consider include establishing the return on investment, how the data will be used, what the end-user experience will be, and what type of governance will be in place.

Identify The Crucial Performance Indicators

Pick A Blockchain Carefully

There are many blockchain solutions to choose from, so you need to be careful and deliberate in choosing which one is best suited for your business. You can do this by doing extensive research and considering your budget. These are some of the blockchain platforms you should consider;

• Multichain
• Quorum
• Corda
• Ethereum
• Stellar
• Openchain
• Hyperledger Fabric

You need to do your research carefully when deciding on the perfect blockchain platform to avoid being scammed by marketing people. Also, always make sure to assess the experience of the technical team, as an experienced person is in a better position to give you more appropriate advice.

Build An Eco-System

For optimal efficiency, you need to create an ecosystem with which to use blockchain technology. This is recommended as having many stakeholders within the industry or organization who understand this technology and its potential can help increase trust between the companies involved. Furthermore, the rules that establish the blockchain model can be identified by all those involved.

There are a couple of recommendations that stakeholders need to decide on for the good use of the blockchain and these includes;

• The governance framework
• The rules of participation
• Established governance mechanisms, such as constant auditing and validation, to make sure the blockchain works as designed.
• Ways to ensure that costs and benefits are shared equally among all shareholders.
• The control framework and risks that will be used to address the shared architecture.
• The entity that validates the new written data that is written to the blockchain.

Be Prepared For The Unknown

You should not expect the blockchain technology implementation journey to be easy. This is because you will surely experience great challenges in the future. After all, blockchain technology is relatively new and you are not guaranteed an answer to every problem.

One issue you should expect to deal with is security. This is possible although compromising the blockchain network is almost impossible. The security vulnerability occurs when data passes from the IoT cloud to the message bus. Therefore, you should not expect to experience any problems when implementing, and knowing this will help you know if this technology is an ideal option.

Furthermore, there is still a lot of uncertainty around blockchain regulation and policies that differ between various countries. So make sure you are always up-to-date with the latest regulations and, better yet, be part of the legislators.

Work As A Team

If you are committed to going far with implementing blockchain technology, consider collaborating on testing. When you work with others, you will be able to quickly identify mistakes and correct them correctly. This is often the case because you are less likely to ignore a bug when working as a team because you will be working as a team to address a given problem. One technique you can incorporate is peer testing, ideally including IT and business.

By testing as a team, you will know that a recognized bug is not a bug but a particular business feature.